Ecology of mosquitoes (Diptera : Culicidae) in areas of Serra do Mar StatePark, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. I - Monthly frequency and climatic factors

The ecology of mosquitoes were studied (Diptera: Culicidae) in areas of Ser ra do Mar State Park, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Systematized monthly huma n bait collections were made three times a day, for periods of 2 or 3 h eac h, in sylvatic and rural areas for 24 consecutive months (January 1991 to D ecember 1992). A total of 24,943 specimens of adult mosquitoes belonging to 57 species were collected during 622 collective periods. Coquillettidia ch rysonotum was the most frequent collected mosquito (45.8%) followed by Aede s serratus (6.8%), Cq. venezuelensis (6.5%), Psorophora ferox (5.2) and Ps, albipes (3.1%). The monthly averages of temperature and relative humidity were inserted in the ten-year average limits of maximum and minimum of the previous ten-year s. Rainfall accompanied the curve of the ten-year averages. Those climatic factors were influential in the incidence of some species; temperature: Ano pheles cruzii, An. mediopunctatus, Ae. scapularis, Ae. fulvus, Cq. chrysono tum, Cq. venezuelensis, Runchomyia reversa, Wyeomyia dyari, Wy. confusa, Wy . shannoni, Wy. theobaldi and Limatus flavisetosus, relative humidity: Ae. serratus, Ae. scapularis, Cq. venezuelensis mid Ru. reversa; rainfall: An. cruzii, Ae, scapularis, Ae. fulvus, Cq. venezuelensis Ru, reversa, Wy. theo baldi and Li. flavisetosus.